


Hyperphosphorylated Tau

by dQw4w9WgXcQ



Category: Original Work
Genre: Acts of Kindness, Dementia, Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-25 12:42:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16661331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dQw4w9WgXcQ/pseuds/dQw4w9WgXcQ
Summary: I wrote this instead of studying for a neuroscience exam I have in about a week's time, because I was thinking about how neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's can affect people and their families. And also how strangers who are kind can make all the difference.





	Hyperphosphorylated Tau

**Author's Note:**

> I created this AO3 account as a teenager who wanted to feel she was a part of fandom. Actually, I don't even read fan fiction all that often, let alone attempt to write it. I would've expected my first published transformative work to be set in the universe of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, the MCU, et cetera, but alas! My first published story-writey-thing is a slightly melancholic third person account of events very much set on planet Earth.

A man alights from the taxi and makes his way to the coffeeshop.

This coffeeshop was where he'd hang out in the early afternoons, after all the fruits had been sold out and the cash counted and stored away. His sister's foster son was old enough to walk back from primary school on his own, so the man had time to watch, well, whatever it is he and his friends watched on the common television screen.

The man orders a coffee, and is shocked by the price. "Coffee can't be this expensive!" he exclaims to the confused stall owner. She ignores him and he reluctantly pays up while grumbling. He sits alone with his Tiger beer mug of _kopi o kosong_ and appears to be lost in thought. Evening arrives, and he flags a taxi to take him home.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The man returns to the coffeeshop after a week. He had a bit of an argument with his taxi driver earlier, when they arrived in front of a high-rise office building in another neighbourhood and he insisted the driver had taken him to the wrong address.

("Like I already said, Uncle, those shops aren't here anymore!

Well, would you like me to drive you to somewhere else, Uncle?")

He can't quite articulate why he feels so melancholic and upset, but in any case, he goes to a four-seater table beside a pillar and waits for the drink stall owner to pass by. He orders a coffee, she states that that would be 1 dollar and 20 cents, and is met with an exasperated look but no argument this time. 

Hours after the sun sets, and as stall owners start closing their stalls and going home, the man remains seated at the table with three vacant seats.

The drinks stall owner now knows something she hadn't realised last week. She approaches the quiet man and asks him if he needs a taxi to get home. What is his address, can he write it down on this piece of paper? Someone is expecting him back at home, right? Does he also want to write down his house telephone number so she can call them up?

The man scribbles down his address and phone number, no hesitation or suspicion, and waits for a taxi to pull up to the curb and the stall owner to hand the piece of paper to the driver with instructions.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The taxi driver did not strike up much of a conversation on the road. As he entered the filter lane and prepared to turn into Lower Delta Road, he got slightly anxious. What if his passenger did not want to go home after alighting? He felt a responsibility towards whoever was at home at Block 113 Jalan Membina, who may or may not know his passenger's whereabouts today and who is probably far more anxious than he was.

 

The taxi enters a road leading to the mulitstorey carpark, surrounded by housing blocks. 113 is on the left, and the driver stops where it's a relatively short walk to the lifts. His passenger is snoring very lightly, so he opens the door and leaves it ajar as he steps outside to key the telephone number he was given into his phone.

 

His call is answered after two rings. The woman who answered it hums noncommittally as the driver, less anxious than before, explains how the coffeeshop Auntie from Braddell told him to drive his passenger to his house and call the house line when they arrived. Instead of saying she'd be coming down in a moment to fetch his passenger, she said, "Tell him I have prepared soup for supper."

 

The taxi driver pockets his phone and turns around to find his passenger awake and already getting out of the car. "This is my home," he states with a fond smile. He bid the driver goodnight and was slowly making his way towards the lift lobby before a mention of supper could be made.

 

 _I did a good thing today_ , the content taxi driver thinks.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

This time, she says one coffee costs seventy cents. He pays up.

 

The drinks stall owner wonders what significance this place has to her mysterious patron, and what made him only start coming here this month. At any rate, he must be thinking of days where a coffee is seventy cents, and the Teresa Teng songs playing over the radio had newly charted on the Top 10. At any rate, if he can remember to thank her for her "great coffee and service" with a grin and slightly puzzled look on his face, as if he does not understand why he feels so much gratitude, then she can remember to absorb the additional costs of her beverages on Monday afternoons.

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested in context, these are some data points regarding the story.  
> -The main character is an elderly Chinese Singaporean man, late 70s.  
> -The coffeeshop (kopitiam) is vaguely based on Toa Payoh West Market & Food Centre at Lor 1 Toa Payoh. (It's referred to as the 'Braddell' coffeeshop because of a nearby train station.) It has amazing dumplings and seafood bee hoon!!!!!!! 10/10 would recommend!!!!!! I've eaten there only a couple of times and haven't actually ordered from their drinks stall though.  
> -The drinks stall Auntie and her thoughtful actions are inspired by an actual story my mum heard and told me. But when I was writing, I mentally pictured the owner of the sliced fish soup stall at Adam Road Food Centre. Middle-aged Chinese Singaporean woman, doesn't smile that often but when she does it is with utter sincerity. The kind of person that eventually starts asking regular customers how their day is ("Have you eaten?") not just for the sake of it, but to actually build a relationship.  
> -The title is a reference to the protein tau that, when dysfunctional, leads to neurodegeneration.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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